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an altar of the sun, carrying a multitude of cinnamon and cassia and balsam wood, and standing towards the east, as they themselves say, having prayed to the sun, to be spontaneously set on fire and become ash, and from the embers for a worm to grow, and this, having been warmed, to be formed into a newly-born phoenix, and having become winged to be sent to Arabia, which is beyond the Egyptian district. If, therefore, as they themselves say, the resurrection is shown through an irrational bird, why do they slander our beliefs in vain, when we confess that he who by his power brought what is not into being, this one is able to present it for a rising up even after its dissolution? For because of this full assurance we endure scourgings and persecutions and deaths, since we would have accepted such things in vain, not having the full assurance of these things, of which we profess to be heralds. Just as, therefore, we were persuaded by Moses when he said that in the beginning God made the heaven and the earth, and we know that he was not in need of matter, but by will alone, what Christ was commanded, these things he also brought forth, we mean heaven, earth, sea, light, night, day, luminaries, stars, flying things, swimming things, four-footed things, creeping things, plants, herbs; in the same manner he will also raise up all by his will, not needing assistance. For it is the work of the same power to create the world and to raise the dead; and then he made man, who was not, out of various things, giving him the soul from what is not, but now he will restore the dissolved bodies to the existing souls. For the resurrection is of those who are lying down, and not of those who do not exist. He therefore who made the first bodies from things that are not and created different things from them, this one will also make the dead alive and raise them up. For he who forms man in the womb from a small seed and creates in him a soul which was not, as he himself says somewhere to Jeremiah: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.” And elsewhere: “I am the Lord who establishes the heaven and lays the foundation of the earth and forms the spirit of man within him.” He will also raise all men, being his creations, as the divine scripture also testifies, God saying to the only-begotten Christ: “Let us make man in our image and after our likeness; and God made man, in the image of God he made him; male and female he made them.” And the most divine and patient Job, concerning whom the scripture says that it is written that he will be raised again with those whom the Lord raises, he says to God:

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μενον ἡλίου βωμόν, φέρον πλῆθος κινναμώμου κασσίας τε καὶ ξυλοβαλσάμου καὶ στὰν πρὸς ἀνατολάς, ὡς αὐτοί φασιν, τῷ ἡλίῳ προσευξάμενον αὐτομάτως φλεχθῆναι καὶ γενέσθαι κόνιν, ἐκ δὲ τῆς σποδοῦ σκώληκα ἀναφυῆναι, καὶ τοῦτον θερμανθέντα μορφωθῆναι εἰς ἀρτιγενῆ φοίνικα καὶ πτηνὸν γενόμενον ἐπ' Ἀραβίαν στείλασθαι, ἥπερ ἐστὶν περαιτέρω τοῦ αἰγυπτιακοῦ νομοῦ. Eἰ τοίνυν, ὡς καὶ αὐτοί φασιν, διὰ τοῦ ἀλόγου ὀρνέου δείκνυται ἡ ἀνάστασις, τί μάτην τὰ ἡμέτερα διαβάλλουσιν, ὅταν ὁμολογῶμεν, ὅτι ὁ δυνάμει τὸ μὴ ×ν εἰς τὸ εἶναι παραγαγών, οὗτος ἰσχύει τοῦτο καὶ μετὰ τὴν διάλυσιν εἰς ἀνέγερσιν παραστῆσαι; ∆ιὰ γὰρ ταύτην τὴν πληροφορίαν καὶ μάστιγας καὶ διωγμοὺς καὶ θανάτους ὑπομένομεν, ἐπεὶ μάτην τὰ τοιαῦτα κατεδεξάμεθα μὴ τούτων ἔχοντες τὴν πληροφορίαν, ὧν κήρυ κες ἐπαγγελλόμεθα εἶναι. Ὥσπερ οὖν ἐπείσθημεν Μωϋσῇ εἰπόντι, ὅτι ἐν ἀρχῇ ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν, καὶ γινώσκομεν, ὅτι οὐχ ὕλης ἦν ἐνδεής, ἀλλὰ βουλήσει μόνῃ, ἃ προσετάγη Χριστός, ταῦτα καὶ παρήγαγεν, λέγομεν δὴ οὐρανόν, γῆν, θάλασσαν, φῶς, νύκτα, ἡμέραν, φωστῆρας, ἄστρα, πετεινά, νηκτά, τετράποδα, ἑρπετά, φυτά, βοτάνας· τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον καὶ πάντας ἀναστήσει θελήματι, συνεργείας μὴ δεόμενος. Τῆς γὰρ αὐτῆς δυνάμεώς ἐστιν ἔργον τὸ δημιουργῆσαι κόσμον καὶ τὸ νεκροὺς ἀναστῆσαι· καὶ τότε μὲν μὴ ὄντα τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐκ διαφόρων ἐποίησεν, δοὺς αὐτῷ τὴν ψυχὴν ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος, νῦν δὲ ταῖς οὔσαις ψυχαῖς τὰ διαλυθέντα σώματα ἀποτίσει. Κειμένων γάρ ἐστιν ἡ ἀνάστασις, οὐχὶ δὲ μὴ ὑπαρχόντων. Ὁ οὖν τὰ πρῶτα σώματα ἐκ μὴ ὄντων ποιήσας καὶ ἐξ αὐτῶν διάφορα δημιουργήσας, οὗτος καὶ τοὺς θανόντας ζωοποιήσας ἀναστήσει. Ὁ γὰρ ἐν τῇ κοιλίᾳ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐκ μικροῦ σπέρματος μορφῶν καὶ ψυχὴν αὐτῷ οὐκ οὖσαν ἐνδημιουργῶν, καθὼς αὐτός πού φησιν τῷ Ἱερεμίᾳ· «Πρὸ τοῦ με πλάσαι σε ἐν κοιλίᾳ ἐπίσταμαί σε.» Καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ· «Ἐγὼ Κύριος στερεῶν οὐρανὸν καὶ θεμελιῶν γῆν καὶ πλάσσων πνεῦμα ἀνθρώπου ἐν αὐτῷ.» Aὐτὸς καὶ πάντας ἀνθρώπους ἀναστήσει αὐτοῦ ὄντας ποιήματα, καθὼς καὶ ἡ θεία γραφὴ μαρτυρεῖ λέγοντα τὸν Θεὸν τῷ μονογενεῖ Χριστῷ· «Ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατ' εἰκόνα ἡμετέραν καὶ καθ' ὁμοίωσιν· καὶ ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν ἄνθρωπον, κατ' εἰκόνα Θεοῦ ἐποίησεν αὐτόν· ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ ἐποίησεν αὐτούς.» Καὶ ὁ θειότατος καὶ καρτερικὸς Ἰώβ, περὶ οὗ φησιν ἡ γραφή, ὅτι γέγραπται αὐτὸν πάλιν ἀναστήσεσθαι μεθ' ὧν ὁ Κύριος ἀνίστησιν, οὗτός φησι πρὸς τὸν Θεόν·